The Truth Can Hurt
by ScarletGoldmist
Summary: Kat was in a situation. Yeah, apparently her long-presumed dead dad was a god, and she and her friends were half-god. Not to mention that her curse was still very real, her missing brother just might turn up, and there was an evil weirdo trying to take over the world. On top of that, Kat was evidently the only one who could stop him. While being kidnapped and possessed. Oh, boy.
1. I Accidently Lose My Older Brother

**A/N: Okay, so I'm trying to make Kat's story un-cliche if I can, but that won't become evident, really, til a few chapters in. Expect regular updates weekly because I've finished writing it, I'm just editing. Constructive criticism appreciated. :D**

* * *

><p>1. I Accidently Lose My Older Brother<p>

I GUESS I COULD SAY that it all started when I was ten, and my best friends Alysse, Tasha and I caught Firefly Hoovin trying to stalk us (and failing miserably) Or maybe when I was twelve and Adrian Flint moved in five houses down.

Or when I was a day to being thirteen and Firefly showed up dragging Adrian behind him demanding to see my mom "Right _now_, Kat!"Or a couple days later when I got captured by a dead guy…oh, but you get the point.

But really, I'm pretty sure the day everything started was the day my brother left.

I was only eight at the time, and he had just turned thirteen the month before. It would have been a normal Saturday in October, if not for the tension in the air; so thick I could've cut it with a knife. I didn't know why, but the only other people in our house, my mom and my brother, apparently did. Naturally, I was restless. Who wouldn't be? Which is why I stomped up to my mom and demanded to know what was going on.

"Kitty…" she sighed.

"No!" I said. "I know you know what's happening, and you know I know you know. So tell me!" She sat down in the nearest chair at the kitchen table, but she sort of collapsed half-way through.

"I guess you'll know if I tell you anything but the truth, but I'll have to know this if you want me to tell you: Can you promise me that you won't tell anyone else?"

I tried to say yes. Of course I did! But…it just wouldn't come out. See, I have a …condition. More like a curse, really. It's gotten me into _and _out of some pretty sticky situations. Anyhow, I can't speak anything but the truth.

Yeah, it sucks.

If someone asks me a question, I'm not compelled to answer, but if I choose to, it is always the exact truth. I can also tell in my gut when someone lies to me. I get sort of this tingly, vertigo feeling in my stomach. So when I couldn't say aloud that I wouldn't tell anyone, my mom just smiled tiredly and pushed her light brown hair behind her ear.

"I thought not. I can't tell you, Katerina. Now… go upstairs. I'm going to see about having Alysse and Tasha over tomorrow, okay?" I just nodded begrudgingly. If she actually called me my full name, (which I hated to the ends of the earth) I knew she meant business.

I was never the type of girl who was inseparable from her mother, or who was particularly clingy. She was always a bit distant, but was never careless, or a bad mother. She worked as a stunt double in the movies, so we were always pretty well off, as she was really good at her job.

Her name, Alena, she told me once, meant fair or good-looking in Greek; but in Celtic, it meant light or bright. "Bright like the sun," she said, and laughed, but wouldn't tell me why. The next day, I asked what my name meant.

My mother's eyes went misty. "Your father named you, since I named Will after my grandfather. Your name means _katharos_. Pure." I didn't mention the incident again.

I sighed, and trudged upstairs. I stopped outside Will's room, the first door on the left. Who's Will? Oh…I thought I said this before, but Will is my older brother. He's around five years older than me, give or take a bit. I knocked and opened the door, only to find the strangest sight I've ever seen:

Will finishing up cleaning his room.

I'd never seen him doing that before.

Heck, I'd never seen him _start _before!

Well, needless to say, I was very confused. People would often compare him to a cat. With his shaggy blond hair, pale blue eyes and laid-back, relaxed disposition, it was rare for him to show this much motivation about anything. Suddenly, I zoomed in on the fact that Will was holding a backpack in his hand with wadded-up clothes hanging out the top. Immediately suspicion bloomed inside me.

"Where are you _going_?" I asked. He jumped three feet in the air and was brandishing a dagger threateningly before he realized it was me.

"Don't scare me like that, Kitty. I almost thought you were-" He broke off and looked around nervously.

"You thought I was who? And I sneak up on you all the time. You never freak out." I frowned. "What's going on, Will?"

He sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Kitty, I have to go away for a while."

"But…you'll come back."

"…Yeah."

"You're not sure."

"I'll come back. I promise."

"If you don't, I'll come after you and hunt you down. _I_ promise."

His lips quirked up. "I know you will."

Will stood and began rooting through his shelves, situated on the wall opposite his bed.

"Is this about…you know, Dad?" Will ceased all motion.

Mom used to tell stories all the time when we were little, but they were never enough, and by the day Will left, she hadn't told any in a very long time. The tiniest tidbit of information about our tall, handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed father was priceless to me. About a month before, the day after Will's birthday, he found something out. I could read him like an open book, and I knew it was important. When I asked him about it, he wouldn't tell me.

Will swallowed hard. "Yeah, it is."

He still had his back to me, facing the shelf. I got up and put my hand on his arm. Abruptly, as if someone had 'Paused' him and then suddenly pressed 'Play', he resumed rummaging. I backed off. Having found whatever he was looking for, he stuffed it into his bag, and quickly turned and approached me.

"Will-"

"Katerina. I need you to listen to me very carefully." He spoke with an intensity I'd never heard in his voice before, his pale blue eyes staring into my dark green ones. At any other time, I would have protested the use of my real name, but he was so serious….

"Okay." I answered. He had sat down on his heels so he was at my eye level.

"Listen, you remember how we practiced having you talk and answer questions, so that no one can tell about the curse?"

"Yeah, but-"

"You never stop doing that now, okay, not ever. Except around Tasha and Alysse. Don't tell anyone about the curse either that doesn't already know. Or in emergencies."

He pulled something over his head, and I recognized it immediately. It was the necklace. It was an old-fashioned arrowhead, like the Indians used, except made out of clear crystal. It was strung on a leather cord, and as far as I knew, Will hadn't _ever_ taken it off. Our dad gave it to him right before he left. He gave me a faint smile, and slipped it over my head.

"What?" I gasped. "Why-"

He stood up, and I followed him, still wanting answers. He grabbed his bow and quiver off the wall, sliding a knife into each sleeve.

As he put his arms through the straps of the backpack, he jogged out his door and down the stairs.

Our mom was waiting by the door, and he hugged her and whispered, "Love you," before slipping out the door. I could see a tear sliding down her cheek. As I followed him, my mom tried to stop me, but I ducked under her arm.

I called after Will, and he turned so abruptly that I ran into him. He crouched down to be at eye level and I noticed that his pale blue eyes were shining unnaturally.

He hugged me and whispered in my ear, "Because then you can remember me _and_ him. I'll come back soon." And he pulled away and ran to the back of a white delivery van that had suddenly appeared (almost like magic) at the edge of our drive.

Mom held me back from running after him as I screamed and yelled for Will to come back. No one answered. As the "Delphi Strawberry Service" van drove away, I could've sworn that the sunlight reflecting off the white metal flashed especially bright, and then Will was gone.

That night was the last time I ever cried myself to sleep.


	2. I Recieve Deadly Weapons For My Birthday

2. I Receive Deadly Weapons For My Birthday

AFTER WILL LEFT, I STOPPED using Kitty and shortened my name even more to Kat. I thought it would sound tougher. Will was always tough.

He was amazing at hand-to-hand combat, and pretty nifty with a dagger, but his real skill lay in healing (although his taxi-cab whistle _was_ dreadful). Will always said that he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up, so that he could help people instead of hurt them.

My mom hired a combat and defense trainer to teach me and my two best friends how to use weapons and protect ourselves. I had an inkling that it was expensive, usually, but Coach gave her a discount and she and Tasha's dad and Aly's mom split the cost.

Tasha had thick, straight chocolate hair, gray eyes, and a thousand freckles and Alysse sported frizzy, dark brown hair and eyes. I'd known them since before we could even remember, and our birthdays were only one day apart. Personally, I've always been the shortest, and still suffer dark-blond hair that's incredibly annoying and just won't grow, as well as spring green eyes that didn't match either my mother's (brown) or father's (blue).

We worked over the next year, learning basic hand-to-hand combat and how to defend ourselves (without weapons), and once we were deemed good enough, we learned weapons. Eventually, we found out we were especially good at different ones, and within another year became the masters of our arts.

Yeah, sounds pretty dramatic, huh? Coach liked to call us the Charites, after the three attendants of Aphrodite in the Greek myths, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. Go figure.

At first I detested the name, but Tasha finally wore Aly and I down enough to make it our official group name. We had received special weapons that exactly matched our 'preferences', made of a metal none of us had ever seen before, and inscriptions in another language. Tasha insisted she could read it, but Aly and I just rolled our eyes and said things along the lines of "_Sure_ you can." She has dyslexia, and doesn't read half as much as I do.

Tasha and I _both_ have dyslexia, and we all have ADHD (talk about weird coincidences), but I have the most patience for reading. Aly thinks it's just boring, even though she can read just fine. Tasha likes math and learning languages and audiobooks. I struggle through books bit by bit, but it's always worth it, although my real passion is music.

Anyhow, at Tasha's insistence that the letters were Greek, I looked the words up and discovered that the meanings were exactly what she said they were.

Yeah, it was weird, not to mention the fact that the moment I found the translations, Aly and I could read the letters crystal clear. I caught my mom grumbling about "Stupid Mist won't work when I _want_ it to…" Of course, she wouldn't tell me what _that_ meant.

We learned how to conceal knives in our clothing until we were like walking armories. It was highly unlikely that we would ever be caught without at least one blade on us. Was I paranoid? Sad to say, yeah, kinda.

However, I failed to mention that the delivery man who brought the special-made weapons always in the same type of van my brother left in. I told the girls everything, but this just...was _unimportant_.

It always was, when it came to Will. Stupid nonexistent brother.

I was the mini archer prodigy with a bow, as well as learning basic fencing. Tasha threw knives and found more places to stash them than we would've thought possible. Alysse was our 'rock', usually about two or three inches taller than me, with sturdier muscle mass than Tasha and I; despite being the youngest by two days. (Tasha was born first, then me the next day, then Aly.) She liked to rely upon a set of dual short swords.

None of us really liked the guns, but we did learn to operate them safely in case of an emergency. I really thought everyone should, you know, for protection. We unanimously decided that whoever named our weapons either was stupid, crazy, or had an atrocious sense of humor (I voted for all three).

My bow was the only major thing not named. I felt a bit miffed, but if the only name option was as bad as for my sword, I preferred it to be nameless. The flat of my blade read, 'Alithea', Truth (Mine was the brunt of the atrocious sense of humor).

I decided that was a bad joke. A very, _very_ bad joke.

Aly's dual swords were inscribed 'Karma' and 'Charisma', which had absolutely no significance and made no sense (This was when we decided the person was crazy).

Tasha's set of seven daggers had no writing on them, presumably because throwing daggers are easily lost, but she had a long, foldable dagger which read 'Sofia', Wisdom (And naming it after Tasha's dead mom was definitely stupid).

We did notice that all the stuff we got after the first shipment had a notable absence of inscriptions, so we figured that only major weapons got names.

Over the years until we were thirteen, things changed, like our favorite colors, and how tall we were (though I remained the shortest, much to my disgust). But nothing major happened until the year we were all twelve, when Coach Hedge, our personal combat trainer, left for Canada.

He was an interesting character, who always carried a baseball bat, yelled, called everyone 'cupcake', and consistently smelled like grass and Gatorade. Nevertheless, he was a great guy, and he taught us almost everything we knew, even if that included doing an unnatural amount of pushups.

If you didn't know him, you wouldn't understand what he meant when he said things, but we did; so we got quite a few words of wisdom and advice. Right before he left, he clapped me on the shoulder, and said gruffly, "You'll find him sometime."

I knew he meant his prize pupil, Will. My brother. He went on to actually _hug_ Alysse, who he'd always had an especially soft spot for.

He nodded at Tasha, and said, "Just make sure to not get feeble and weak, Charites. Remember what I taught you." Which was like, everything, except that sometimes yelling "DIE!" during a stealth attack doesn't help, but you know….

And we promised we would. Firefly sparred with us—being Coach's nephew, he had picked up a few things, and we taught Adrian as well as we could. But nothing could beat the coach.

Oh, right. I suppose I should introduce Firefly and Adrian. Here we go...

**A/N: Sorry, bit of a filler chapter. Yes, they know Hedge. :D Next chapter will be probably the longest because I couldn't find the right spot to cut it off. Also, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all you people out there! :) I'm posting a oneshot about Leo getting home on Christmas Eve and interrupting a song request for him. If you like Leo Valdez and the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas", check it out! **

**-Scarlet**


	3. We Are Stalked and My Mom Wastes Cookies

**A/N: Well, here's the third chapter! Hope you all enjoy!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>3. We Are Stalked And My Mom Wastes Cookies<p>

WE HAD BETTER GO BACKWARDS to when I was ten. Of course, that was a while ago, at least.

The day we met Firefly was the first day back to school, and Aly was not happy. As we walked through the halls, she was complaining about summer being over _already_ while Tasha was trying to convince her it wasn't so bad.

Honestly, if I had always been able to go to school with Tasha and Aly, I'd be much happier. That particular year was the only year I ever went to school with them.

We walked along, on our way to math, when suddenly a huge clattering noise erupted right behind us. We whirled around in surprise. Sprawled on the floor was a kid about our age, maybe a year older. He was wearing an orange blazer, jeans, a ball cap on over his light brown hair, and had a bag which was full of tin cans.

"Uh, sorry." The kid said nervously. "I was just…uh, recycling."

"I can see that." I replied dryly, holding out a hand to help him up. He took it.

"Odd behavior for a recycler," Aly added casually. "Stalking people."

"I'm not!" he protested. "I'm just…following you to math. You _are_ going to math, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Oh! Sorry, forgot to introduce myself." He stuck out his hand, smiling nervously. "Firefly. Firefly Hoovin. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"That's an unusual name," Tasha noted. "But familiar, for some odd reason."

Firefly brightened—no pun intended. "I'm Coach's nephew!" When we didn't say anything, his face fell. "Coach Hedge? Don't know him?"

"We know him alright." I narrowed my eyes. "The question is, how do _you_ know _us_?"

Firefly rubbed the back of his neck, turning red. "Well, it's kind of awkward."

"Just tell us, or we're walking away right now." Aly insisted.

He sighed. "Dang it. Fine. Okay, so I'mkindofobsessedwithyoubecauseUncletalksaboutyouguyssomuchandI'vealwayswantedtomeetyouandIwaskindoftryingtostalkyouandseeifyou'dnoticemeandgivemeyourautographs" -he paused to breath-"becauseyouaretheCHARITESandyou'resoawesome!"

We glanced at each other, and burst out laughing. "What?" Firefly asked, affronted. "What's so funny?"

I gasped for air, tears of laughter streaming down my face. "And…and here we were thinking you were some creepy serial killer-slash-stalker or something…and you want our autographs!"

When we finally managed to pull ourselves together, he meekly offered us and autograph book and a pen. We burst out into another fit of giggles, but Tasha took the pen and signed her name in big, swirly, flowing cursive. "You said Uncle Hedge? You're related to _Gleeson _Hedge?"

"Yeah! He said you were almost as good as the best at Camp Hal-" He cut off halfway through the sentence. "Uh, I mean… he said you were as good as some people we know. Yeah."

I raised my eyebrows, but didn't comment on his slip of…whatever it was. Aly wrote out her name in somehow elegant, thick handwriting.

"You staying for a while?" she asked.

"Uh-huh. I'm going to learn how to do fighty stuff, and we go to the same school, so we'll see each other a bit."

"That's nice." I said with a grin. I penned out my 'autograph' swiftly, preferring to stick with my usual writing.

"Can't wait to see more of you, but I'm pretty sure we're late for math, and it's only the first day of school…so, bye!" I said, tugging my friends away. The words almost wouldn't form, but I convinced myself that they were sincere. I'd gotten pretty good at that.

We hurried off, and it turned out that Firefly would stay for more than a little while. He was just…_around_ for the next three years, until the day he showed up at my house dragging Adrian behind him.

As we walked off, Tasha didn't fail to remark, "I don't know how you manage sarcasm so well, but you can always make it work, even when it's not quite true."

And that's Firefly handled. I guess I'm going to have to tell you how I met Adrian.

His family moved into town the year I was twelve. His mom had remarried to his foster father, so my mom thought that Aly, Tasha, and I could relate.

See, my mom and Tasha's dad are both single. Aly's mom was some kind of tri-sport Olympic athlete or something. She disappeared and never came back when Aly was small, but her dad got remarried about five years ago now to one of the nicest ladies I know.

Mine was a small town musician—mom always said I got my talent from him. He left for _Greece_, of all places, for a Musicians of the World Conference just before I was born, but disappeared on that trip to Greece and had never been found. He never even saw me.

Yeah, a lot of disappearance, I know.

Tasha was a different story. Her dad took care of her, because her mom got killed in a plane crash on a business flight to Athens, when Tasha was like, three months old.

The whole stupid 'dead parents' thing was just another reason for us to bond.

So when my mom suggested we go and welcome the Flints to our neighborhood, somehow Aly and Tasha both got out of it. I didn't. My mom dragged me over to the house five down from us with a plate of chocolate chip cookies (Waste of cookies, I thought).

When Mrs. Flint opened the front door, smiled and started to talk with my mom, I got left in a staring contest with Adrian Flint. I was not impressed. He had short, dark caramel colored hair, with eyes that were a mixture of green and gray.

If I was the kind of girl that mooned over boys, I would've thought he was pretty cute. He had a nice tan, his smile was strangely quirky, and his eyes were pretty dreamy, but he was the same height as me (and I've always been short) and I wasn't that kind of girl, so I promptly won the staring contest and smirked about it.

He coughed uncomfortably and reached out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Adrian. Pleased to meet you."

I reluctantly shook his hand, flicking my ponytail to the side in derision. I had had to beat up a guy who tried to bully me the year before, and ever since, my opinion of pretty much every boy other than Firefly had been pretty much in the dumps.

"Kat. If you call me Katerina, I will most likely attempt to kill you."

Adrian looked at me, decided I was serious, and nodded. "So, uh, what do you do for a hobby?"

"I like music—I can play six instruments, and I sing. And I do archery, too," I confided, "I've been the Sothern California Junior Champion in archery three years in a row. What do _you_ do for fun?"

"I, uh, like to fish and pull pranks. I'm teaching myself to pick locks. I'm pretty good at it," he confided.

"That sounds…cute."

"So, if you're such an expert, why don't you show me something?" He asked offhandedly.

"I would…."

He grinned in triumph, sure I would say no.

"…but I don't have my bow right now. I do however, have this." I reached down and pulled my favorite knife out of its hidden sheath in my boots.

"I'll throw it at something with pleasure. Name a target, Gatorade."

Adrian frowned, whether at the nickname or at my willingness, I couldn't tell. "Okay…that black spot on the sycamore there." A big tree in the yard had a small, about two-inch wide black patch in the pale bark.

"You sure? That's a little easy…"

"From where we are now." From the grin on his face, he thought he had me figured. We stood on the porch, about fifteen feet away.

_Piece…._

I held the tip of the knife between the first finger and thumb of my right hand, aligning the points in my head. I automatically compensated for the slight breeze to our left, and narrowed my eyes, but didn't close either completely.

_Of…._

Suddenly, I tensed my formerly relaxed fingers, sighted on the black patch, and flicked my wrist forward quickly and forcibly, releasing the knife. A millisecond later, it thudded into the black spot in the tree, dead center.

_Cake._

I turned to Adrian, a look of dissatisfaction on my face. "Total fail. My best friend can do that much better …but still. Good enough for you, new boy?"

I almost had to laugh at the expression he wore. He obviously didn't believe his own eyes.

I rolled mine. "Want to learn how to do that?"

His eyes widened even more, if that was possible. "You…you'd teach me?"

I sighed in exasperation. Didn't this guy listen? "No! If you want _me_ to teach you, you'll have to settle for archery, like I said before. Think about it."

I walked off the porch, not caring that my mom was still engaged in talking. I neatly pulled my knife from the tree, putting it away.

I turned just before I reached the sidewalk. "Oh, Adrian, just so you know…I always say what I think and what I mean, so don't expect me to be this nice again. _Adios_."

"Okay? Uh, thanks, Kat."

I knew it was highly unlikely I would ever be friends with this kid, so I wasn't surprised when, over the next year, at the same time he learned from us at the Academy, we never became close.

It wasn't even until the day Tasha turned thirteen that I thought I might possibly have to be friends with this kid. And that, I suppose, is where I should pick up my story.


	4. I Throw Our Birthdays Out The Window

**A/N: Well, I'm back with chapter four! Thanks to all the awesome followers, favoriters, and especially reviewers! This is a bit of a filler chapter, sooo...**

**Special thanks to **sonofthetrigod**, who has reviewed every chapter and is an awesome supporter in all of my stories!**

* * *

><p>4. I Figuratively Toss Our Birthdays Out The Window (And Firefly Helps)<p>

OUR COLLECTIVE BIRTHDAYS ARE SPECIAL, in that they are one day apart each. Tasha was born first, June 16th. I was next, June 17th, then Aly, June 18th.

The year we turned thirteen, on Tasha's birthday, we were hanging out at my house. They were going to be over for a sleepover that night, so at 8:30 P.M. we all had our pajamas on when Tasha suggested Truth or Dare. I voted for Charades, but Aly wanted Twister. So Tasha listed the pros and cons of the different games, and just like she planned, Truth or Dare came out on top. After every question or demand, we'd all burst out laughing, but it was fun.

At any rate, none of us were prepared for the very loud, conspicuous noise of someone banging on the front door with…what sounded like a hammer?

I groaned. "I'll go answer it."

Aly stood with me. "You sure?"

I grinned confidently. "Yeah, course. What could possibly happen?"_ Famous last words._

I walked out the door of my room, rapping twice on the closed door to Will's room as I went by; a habitual good-luck thing. I ran my hand over my loose bun, realizing suddenly that I was going to answer the door in my PJs (gray leggings and a lavender tank-top) and bare feet.

I got down the stairs and opened the door, only hesitating for a moment. A familiar face loomed up out of the fog, followed by another face, just as familiar, but only half as welcome.

"Firefly." I sighed, inspecting the door. The glazed wood surface sported several round indents. "What did you _do_?"

"Nothing. Sorry." He didn't sound very sorry, but I let it go.

"What are you doing here? It's 8:33 at night. And why on Earth did you bring _him_?"

"I object to that comment and tone of voice!" Adrian protested. "I didn't ask for this."

"Just deal, Flint." I snapped and then promptly ignored him, and continued looking at Firefly expectedly. "Well?"

"Kat, I need to see your mom right now. It…it could be a matter of life and death."

With my curse I could tell that he definitely was not lying. I could also tell that whether or not I let him through the door, something huge was going to happen, and that I wouldn't like the results either way…but that letting him through would be better, probably.

I didn't want anything to change. I didn't want to ruin all of our thirteenth birthdays in one fell swoop. I definitely didn't want to leave, and I could tell that letting him in would guarantee all three.

"Right _now_, Kat!" Firefly's voice was desperate.

I closed my eyes. Took a deep breath in. Out. In. Out. I opened my eyes, and the door came with them. Adrian nearly bowled Firefly over in his haste to get inside.

"It's cold out there, Kat!" He groaned.

I looked at him icily. "Would you like to go back out?"

"…no…"

"Then shut up and don't annoy any of us." I directed my attention towards Firefly. "Tasha and Alysse won't be pleased."

Firefly lit up instantly. (No pun intended.) "They're here? Great! Two less stops for me."

"You do know its Tasha's birthday."

"Sorry, yeah, I know. I'd not be here for you guys' birthdays if I could, but I don't have much of a choice."

I chuckled, giving the hapless kid a smile. "My mom's in the kitchen."

He grimaced. "Tell Alysse and Tasha that you need to pack up. Make sure you have your special gear." Firefly turned to go through the doorway.

I frowned, uncertain why I would need anything of the sort. "Pack? Why?"

"Actually, never mind." He corrected himself quickly. "Only bring what you can run with easily, but you will need your other stuff. I'll tell you later!"

I shrugged and turned to run up the stairs two at a time, leaving Firefly and Adrian to make their way to the kitchen. I entered my room and collapsed in my teal cushioned armchair (a deal at a garage sale which I had fashioned my color scheme to match), head in hands, as I informed them of the 'recent developments'.

"Uhhhhggggg. Leave you alone for one minute and everything's gone to pot!" Tasha groaned.

"I'm sorry, Tasha, but it's not just _your _birthday out the window." Aly pointed out. "And I can feel that there's something darling Kitty-Kat hasn't told us."

Tasha straightened up in my antique wooden desk chair and closed her eyes, listening to my silence.

"You're right. I feel it too." she decided. They turned towards me as one.

"Well, get on with it. If what you've said is true, we don't have all night. Oh…everything you say is true…at _any _rate, we don't have all night." Aly told me irritably. She was engaged in lacing and relacing her favorite Nikes.

"I think that we might be going where Will went, and what if he didn't make it? Even worse, what if he did?" I shook my head helplessly.

"He'll be there." Tasha said confidently, waving her hand at me.

I rolled my eyes, though I could feel the warm feeling in my stomach I got when people were honest. "How do you know? It's been five years."

"I just know." She shrugged.

"So what?" Alysse interjected, leaning back against the teal-and-gold pillows on my bed. "Five years—"

"Is a very long time." I finished. "What if he did make it, and just forgot his promise?"

"Will wouldn't do that."

"And if he did, we'd kick his butt so hard it'd fix his memory." Tasha added, raising her eyebrows at my hesitancy.

"And I don't doubt you would." I reassured them quickly.

"He promised to come back." Tasha pointed out, beginning to braid her hair.

I sighed, correcting her rapidly becoming crooked braid. "But he didn't."

"And you promised that if he didn't, you'd hunt him down." Aly was getting more and more exasperated; I could tell by the tone of her voice.

"It's time to make good on that." Tasha agreed, before tying off the end of her middle-of-back chocolate braid.

"…you're right." I decided, standing up.

"Aren't we always?" She inquired innocently.

"You are. I'm not." Aly disclaimed uninterestedly.

"You two are so annoying."

Aly and Tasha fist bumped. "And you sound like yourself again."

We stood, grinning, changed and threw on matching gray hoodies with

'I'm Tasha Charite: Don't Make My Knives Mad- I Won't Like You Either',

'I'm Alysse Charite: On A Side Note, I Sharpened My Swords This Morning', and

'I'm Katerina Charite: My Arrows Can Run Faster Than You…Wanna Test That Theory?'

emblazoned on the backs, respectively, courtesy of our former Coach, of course.

I looked at the floor. "Guys…"

Tasha interrupted. "I don't want to hear it, Kitty. We will fulfill that promise."

"Which one?"

Aly grinned. "All of them."

"Don't forget, we're here." Tasha reminded me.

"Yeah." I said, giving them a nod and a quirk of my eyebrows.

"You got this." Aly confirmed. "No matter what kind of stupid thing you do. Let me just ask this: are you sure about this being the right thing?"

"Yes. You know I know." I said quietly.

Tasha nodded. "But can we trust your instinct?"

"Have I ever been wrong before?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yes, actually." Aly replied dryly.

"Then you'll just have to trust me."

"We do." They said.

"Do you guys practice speaking in sync?" I deadpanned.

"Maybe." They replied.

"Stop that!"

"Fine…" They groaned.

"For the second time today, but certainly not the last, why am I best friends with such annoying people?!"

"Aw, come on, you know you'd miss us!" Aly shoved me good-naturedly.

I smirked. "You're right, I would."

At that moment, I heard my mom's voice calling up the stairs, asking if we were ready. Tasha kicked open the door in true kung-fu movie style, and I laughed.

"I'm ready!" I got one punch on each side.

"I mean, _we're_ ready…that actually hurt."

"Oops."

"Our bad."

"Oh, just come on!" And that's how our only chance at a normal birthday got thrown out the window.


	5. I Resolve Not To Visit The Museum

**A/N: Alright! So I'm posting this chapter pretty soon after the last one. Yay! Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

><p>5. I Resolve Not To Visit the Museum Of Gathering Dust<p>

WE MADE OUR WAY DOWNSTAIRS, rapping on the closed door to Will's room as we passed for a good-luck charm. Firefly, my mom, and Adrian were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. We got in the car, and my mom hit the gas pedal.

As we drove, Firefly informed us that we were all children of the _Greek Olympian gods_, that the gods were _real_ and _alive_, and that we were going to a place called _Camp Jupiter_. I had no idea what that was, but at that point, I was busy trying not to asphyxiate to care too much.

Yeah, so I choked and nearly drowned on air, but Tasha nearly had a heart attack, while Aly threatened Firefly to tell the truth until I caught my breath enough to intervene and tell her he already was. Adrian just sat quietly and hyperventilated.

Apparently there were two camps for what we were, _demigods or half-bloods_, but this one was closer, and we'd stop by to see if we belonged there or at the other place, _Camp Half-Blood_. He neglected to clarify what the difference was, however.

I nodded, gaped, and asked questions disbelievingly at the appropriate times, but honestly, it made sense. More than the bizarre stories of our respective parents disappearing, at least. Possibly not a good sign.

I wondered, though, if maybe something about my dad being a Greek god could have anything to do with my curse. There might even be a way to reverse it, somehow.

It was maybe two in the morning when Firefly told us we were only two miles from the Caldecott Tunnel (I didn't see how that mattered). My mom finally pulled up next to a hill, and we got out. My mom strangled me half to death before making me promise not to do anything dangerous (Firefly coughed nervously) and then did the same to all my friends.

We walked over to the base of the hill. "You've yet to tell us about why we're even here," Tasha reminded Firefly.

"Oh!" He looked sheepish. "The entrance to Camp Jupiter is here."

Aly burst out laughing.

"She has a point," I shrugged my shoulders. "There's nothing here. I think I would've noticed."

Firefly sighed. "Okay, so there is this magical stuff called the Mist, and it hides the demigod and godly world from mortal eyes, and demigod eyes while you're young."

He snapped his fingers and pointed to a door, flanked by two sentries, that definitely was _not_ there before.

"What the heck?" I said, raising an eyebrow. The sentries noticed us and ran over.

"Anything following you?" The bigger guy asked. I noticed his purple t-shirt under what looked like old Roman armor, and the fact that his lips were stained red.

"Um, no," I managed. "Who're you?"

He ignored my question, glancing around nervously. "With this many in your group, it's a miracle you made to camp with all the attacks we've been having. Come on, we'll take you to the praetors."

And on that happy note, and the hope that we'd get dinner (or breakfast, whatever) I followed the Vampire-Armor Dude through the invisible-not-invisible doorway, with my friends (plus Adrian) close behind.

"You definitely don't belong here." The pale, beautiful girl with the dark hair, glittery purple cloak and armor didn't seem especially pleased to see us, but I didn't care. The other guy (who was Asian and really big) grinned at us and asked the girl next to him (who was African American with very interesting gold eyes) to go send an I-M to the Greeks.

"Reyna's right," he said. "You guys definitely feel Greek. That means you belong at Camp Half-Blood." Really big guy turned to Firefly. "You're Coach Hedge's nephew, right?"

Firefly nodded. "Yeah. Oh, and he says, uh, 'Hi, Zhang cupcake.'"

'Zhang cupcake' laughed. "That sounds like him." They started talking about whether it would be better to wait until daylight to proceed, or to go now.

"Uh…do you guys know what is going on?" Tasha looked as confused as I felt.

"Not unless the Kitty-Kat does." Alysse confirmed.

I rolled my eyes before replying. "…yeah, sorry, no. And I told you not to call me that."

"Well…that's just great." Tasha sighed and shifted her bag on her shoulders.

"I'm just gonna ask instead of standing here talking about it all night." I informed them, looking over to where Firefly and 'Zhang cupcake' were still discussing about whether or not to continue now or in the morning.

Aly grinned, motioning for me to go ahead. "Hey, why didn't I think of that?!"

"You're an idiot." Tasha said nonchalantly.

"Be nice, girls." I stepped up to the conversing demigods and satyr. "You do know that other than Greek mythology is real and we don't belong here, we have no idea what's happening. You do know that?"

"Oh." Firefly had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry, Kat."

Alysse and Tasha stepped up beside me, and though my expression didn't change, I was silently grateful for the support.

Firefly straightened up and gave a small 'ahem'. "Charites, these are the praetors of Camp Jupiter, Frank and Reyna. Praetors, this is Katerina Solace, Alysse Hart, and Tasha Utah."

Tasha smiled at them, trying to do the thing where she looks older than her age. "I'm pleased to meet you. I'd be even more pleased if you can possibly tell us what's happening."

Reyna cracked a smile, though it looked stiff on her face. "Well, we can house you for the night, and give you directions to Camp Half-Blood. See, the reason you don't belong here is the Olympians have two aspects, Greek and Roman. Children born from the Greek side have always gone to Camp Half-Blood, while children born from the Roman side have always come here. You are Greek, I believe."

Aly rolled her eyes, skeptical. "And just how exactly do you know that?"

"Well…" Frank frowned, making vague hand gestures to try and convey his thoughts. "The air around you feels different, in a powerful, but weird way. Like Percy's did, just less potent."

"Oh, that helps."

He groaned. "No, I mean…Reyna!"

"You mean Reyna?" I asked. "Now that's just confusing. Straighten out, dude!"

He stabbed his spear into the ground. "You sound like Leo!"

"Who's Leo?" All three of us asked at the same time, sharing a wink afterwards.

"That's it." Frank muttered. "You can bunk at the Third Cohort for the rest of the night; I think they've got room. Reyna… I can't do this."

She nodded in acceptance. "I can do it this time, but _you'll_ have to explain next time. Off you go then."

He trotted off. Literally. He turned into a nice chestnut Thoroughbred and trotted off.

"Okay." I turned back to Reyna. "I'm not gonna ask. So, explanation, please."

"I like you _and _your friends." She remarked. "You don't mince words, thankfully. Rather like Annabeth, in fact."

"Okay, so I'm gonna ignore the random people references…." Aly muttered.

"Wise choice." Reyna seemed amused. "Anyhow…" And she proceeded to explain everything from why we were considered 'Greek' to which gods were Olympian and which weren't.

She told us that Frank was a son of Mars, like Clarisse, the counselor for that cabin at Camp Half-Blood was a daughter of Ares, which would technically make her Frank's sorta half-sibling. He could turn into animals because he was also a legacy of Neptune. So he was related to this Percy guy, who was a son of Poseidon. Only a bit confusing.

"And," she said, "I see you carry weapons, but do you know how to use them? We wouldn't send you off without protection, however cold we may seem. We can provide basic training, if you need it."

"I think we're good," Aly replied. Only Tasha and I could tell that she was ab bit offended. "We had a great coach."

"Can you show me something?" Reyna asked. Tasha pulled a knife and threw it. It thudded into the tree to Reyna's left.

An armless statue appeared with a poof of smoke, and started yelling at her. "Disrespect! I demand an inquiry as to the nature of these greggus scum! Praetor, I didn't see you there. You will take care of this, I presume?" The statue huffed.

Reyna nodded, waving a hand at him in dismissal. "It was on my orders, Terminus. We're fine."

Terminus the armless, talking statue's eyes nearly popped out. "Very well! Hmmph! I'll leave you, Praetor." He disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"This is unbelievable." I suppressed a laugh, smiling disbelievingly.

"'Scuse me," Adrian called. "Should I just go die in a corner, or will that disturb you?"

"No, it won't." Tasha replied good-naturedly. "Go ahead."

"This…is Adrian Flint." I sighed, waving in his general direction.

Reyna's expression didn't change as she stood, hands on hips, looking over Adrian. "Can he use that sword?"

"We taught him everything he knows." Aly said proudly. "He's an idiotically slow learner."

"Hey! You did not!" Three pairs of eyebrows rose and three pairs of eyes looked at him, unimpressed.

"…okay, yeah, you did, but-"

"But, shut up." I told him.

He mutinously muttered something about the odor of skunk and my shampoo, but I stalwartly ignored him.

Reyna nodded decisively. "Then you leave at five. We'll give you provisions. You can take the train line all the way to Trenton, I think."

"Let's go." I turned back to Reyna.

"Well, Third Cohort is just down that sixth row and to the left. We'll drop off the packs in the morning." The praetor said cheerfully, before walking off to a house near us. I looked after her, sighing. I wasn't sure that I didn't have more questions than before.

"We'll need to be up as early as we can. If we make as good time as we did today, we'll be at Camp Half-Blood within three days. We'll have to switch trains roughly seven times before we get off in Trenton, though." Firefly put in.

"Where is Trenton?" I asked.

"Capital of New Jersey," Tasha offered, grinning broadly. "Home of six different museums. I want to check out the Museum of-"

"Gathering Dust?" Aly suggested snarkily. Tasha responded with a glare.

"How do you even _know_ that?" I wondered dryly. "Never mind, don't answer. I just need to go to sleep."

We found the Third Cohort eventually, where we crashed in the cots they had set up for us and ignored their whispers, and just before I fell asleep, I made a mental note to glue the lid of my shampoo bottle shut. There's no telling what Adrian might get up to.


End file.
